Attention to ONLY one dog

[Amy Murphy]

Do any of you reach down to pet one of your dogs, then end up with two, three, or more furry faces in the way?  How do you approach this issue, do you seperate your dogs for one-on-one time, or have you taught them to take turns?

[Helen]

We are still working on this one at our house... One dog comes to say hi, the other is close behind, followed by the cat who wants to come and sit on you too!! I think we should be teaching them to take turns but they are so darn cute!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

This is funny. DH and I will switch off for alone time with both. I will take Taquito to another room, he stays with Peri and pets her, etc...
Also, if I am giving Peri a pet, I will reach for T. or tell someone else to pet the little guy.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned and Clancy, but especially Ned, is very pushy about hogging the attention. Our other two are very polite and we just have to be quiet with them when we want a cuddle or Ned and then Clancy come barreling in. When Ned and Clancy decide it is wake=up time in the morning it is kind of chaos on our bed with the one-upsmanship contest for attention.

[Coach Veazey, Roberta, and Coach]

Same with Coach!!

[Ann Kendig]

Duke is the attention hog in our house. He will push Sheba out of the way for affection at times. We have been working on his manners and when he is pushy he has to sit to the side for a short time for a "time out". This has really helped him! Most of the time if one dog comes up to me, the other is there too. I just open my arms and give both of them a big hug and lots of kisses at the same time. Over time they have become accustomed to this and accept it. It also gives all of us some time to bond together. Sometimes I'll tell Sheba to give Duke a kiss, which she does! (Duke only gives kisses to us and none to poor Sheba.) Usually they end up on their backs side by side for a belly rub. When one dog is in another room I take the opportunity to shower the dog that is with me with affection. I have learned to whisper when I do this because if the other dog hears what is going on it will come charging into the room! :) I have wondered how I would handle 3 dogs though...I don't have enough hands to pet 3 at once!

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

In the evenings after work it's chaos with the two attention hogs. I started feeling sorry for Maple because Lucky just barges in the middle every time Maple is getting pets. Since we are always maintaining the dogs choice that Maple is the Alpha (after US of course), I now greet Maple first in the morning with pets, kisses and a body rub (looking for mats) then I ask her "are you ready? are you ready for the rodeo?" and she playfully puts her paws down with a thump and barks a little telling me it's OK to let Lucky out of her bedtime crate. And the rodeo begins! It gives Maple shared responsibility of deciding when Lucky gets her attention from both her and I in the beginning of the day. That status check carries her through the day and when Lucky butts in later it's tolerated. But one thing we never do is shift affection solely to the one that interrupts - it just becomes a double dog rub.
I like the idea of time out and will start that after our obedience classes this Fall. Thanks for the tip Ann.

[Ann Kendig]

Sally, this really has worked for Duke. It is actually something that is good to work on before classes (as I did with Duke). It was great practice for his sit/stays. As soon as he would barge in and push Sheba out of the way I would say "manners". Then I would lead him away a few steps and have him sit. Then, Sheba and I would get close to him and I would pet Sheba, (he remains in the sit/stay) but I wouldn't make a big deal out of giving attention to Sheba. Then I would tell Duke "OK", which is our release word. If he barged in...he went back to the sit/stay. It took some hard work and patience to get him to where he is now! Most of the time he now walks over and accepts the fact that he isn't allowed to push her away. He is MUCH better. Also, when he comes over for affection he must sit close to me before I pet him. He was really bad about jumping on me when I tried to pet him. Good luck with the obedience training!! I found it to be a lot of fun. It has certainly helped both of my dogs behave better. I'm hoping to enroll them in some classes over the winter for "continuing education" for all of us!! : ) By the way, I sometimes use this approach on Sheba too as sometimes she is guilty of the same behavior. I can just imagine the rodeo! Good idea!! lol

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

Thanks Ann, we'll start tonight!

[Ann Kendig]

Good Luck Sally. BTW your doodles are beautiful!!!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Sophie is the attention hog at our house. If she even hears me talking to Lucy in another room, she comes running and pushes her way right between us. I normally just push her over to the side and pet them both! It is common in our house to hear good thing we have two hands, and not 3 dogs! Even on the few occasions that Lucy gets to go with us on Therapy visits, if someone is petting her Sophie will leave whoever is petting her to go push Lucy out of the way and take her pets. She really is a spoiled brat!

[Coach Veazey, Roberta, and Coach]

Coach is the attention hog in my house. If I have anything to do with my daughter's dog Coach will get between us and push her away. I try to make him share my attention! He loves her but thinks he is missing out on something.

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

Kirby is an attention hound. If we are giving Dexter attention, he will come butt in. We realized we are creating a monster by not correcting this (he was jealous of the attention I gave our friend's baby last week). If Kirby butts in when we are petting Dex we ignore him. We tell him to "go lay down". Once he listens we go over and reward him with attention. He is getting it and we have only been working on this for about a week.